QUILTS & FABRIC: PAST & PRESENT

Friday, April 29, 2011

A snake quilt I made. My daughter in law has quite a few snakes so I made the quilt for my grand daughter. They are supposed to represent pink corn snakes. The heads and tails are "loose" and flop around...then the outline of it is quilted onto the quilt.

In the comments on the last post Suture For a Living sent a link to her snake quilt on her blog. She used a Cheri Strole pattern.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

It's that time of year to keep an eye out for snakes in the garden. And it's always time to look for snake quilts.

I've been collecting pictures of snake quilts for several years. Many of these are not what you would call "book patterns." They seem to have been handed around or made up by a creative and gemometrically talented quilter.

You can find some of the published versions indexed in my Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns

Many are just fan blocks that form a trail. The one above is a regular fan block that's arranged in concentric rings.

This one's similar but the fan "handle" matches the background so it works a little better as a snake.

This is a double fan, with one fan larger than the other. This is probably the most effective pattern if the two fans are drawn with the right arc so the eye moves easily from block to block.

The quilt above was probably made from this design. It is BlockBase# 3355, called Whirling Fans by the

syndicated Laura Wheeler newspaper column in the 1930s.

The secret to the perfect snake is getting the arcs to connect visually.

The commercial patterns really didn't do that so people seem to have redrawn them.

I don't think the one below was pieced as blocks.

Here's the ultimate snake quilt, 2 arcs to a block and snake heads and tails in the border. I THINK it belongs to Emory University in Atlanta.

It's hard to believe there isn't a commercial pattern source for all these that work so well from the 1930-1960 era.

Here's a variation.

Sort of like this fan, just alternated in rows.

Again, it's hard to believe I haven't found a commercial source in the 1930s for the pattern above.

Green Snake by Susie Ponds

Surprisingly there is an Encyclopedia and BlockBase number for this one that seems so folky. It's #3350 and was in the Kansas City Star twice, once as the Rainbow quilt and once as The Drunkard's Trail.

In Alabama it's called Green Snake.

The Alabama quilters have solved the arc problem, getting the line to undulate in snake-like fashion.

See two more Alabama Green Snake quilts in the collection of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum by clicking on these two links to the Robert & Helen Cargo collection:

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Here's the second block in the nine-month block-of-the-month pattern I'm doing this year with Moda called Northern Lily, Southern Rose.

Susan Stiff and I designed the BOM quilt. Susan's model is done in prints from my Civil War Reunion reproduction collection with green solids from the Moda Bella Solid collection.

Each of the nine applique blocks is drawn from 19th-century regional patterns---North and South. The block I'm calling Tennesee Rose Wreath is based on a Southern design. When Bets Ramsey and Merikay Waldvogel were doing the Quilts of Tennessee search they noticed this unusual pattern, which isn't seen elsewhere, although the Texas quilt searches found similar quilts---with pattern or quilts possibly brought from Tennessee. The pattern hasn't been published until recently and Coxcombs and Currants is a name they are using in Tennessee.

It's an unusual pattern, full of berries or currants in a wreath of fern-like foliage around a plant which is sometimes in a pot. We simplified the design, pulling out the coxcomb leaves, the dots and the central rose.

When I made my model I used traditional red and greens and used a four-way symmetry.

Susan's version in the pattern is a three way symmetry.

Tennessee Rose Wreath by Ilyse Moore

Ilyse Moore's version uses soft pinks and greens on a dotted background.

Notice the basting lines she uses for centering the pattern pieces.

You can easily change the symmetry by moving 4 foliage pieces to the compass points in your block rather than the three-way arrangement shown in the pattern. The pattern pieces are the same size; there's just less space between the pieces.

See 3 antique versions of the Coxcombs & Currants at the Quilt Index, two from Tennessee, one from Texas.

Monday, April 18, 2011

April is the month the nation is remembering the beginning of the Civil War 150 years ago. My latest Civil War era reproduction is called Civil War Reunion because I thought the best way to remember that horrible event would be to celebrate the post-War reunion of North and South, the Blue and Gray Reunions of Veterans and events like Memorial Day to recall the sacrifice on both sides.

Gettysburg Reunion 1938

I was pleased to find a scrap of fabric with the word Union, which probably is NOT a print from the years 1861-1865 but more likely one from the 1870s when the country was celebrating the peace at our Centennial celebration in Philadelphia.

This Union shield and double flag stripe likely

dates to the 1870s and celebrates the Reunion.

It was in Civil War Crossing, a collection a few years ago.

We find a few patriotic prints from the war years but most of the flags and star prints are probably from post-War era. And no one has found a Confederate print because the South grew the cotton, they had no factories to print it.
All that said, it's always a surprise to get a mean little note like this one.

I'm really disappointed in your lack of historical mindedness when it came to your creation of the Civil war reproduction.it also seems a little one sided. How could you make all the other beautiful creations in this line and then go and add "UNION" !!!!!There was 2 sides to the Civil War. You Chose to only show the Union side. I personally am on the Confederate side, a Southerner if you will.So yes I'm disappointed. To be historically correct you should have chosen to show both sides or leave them out entirely.How many others have commented on this HUGE mistake of yours? I bet this letter never makes it to the light of day with the public. However it would be nice and Politically correct for you to comment and apologize for your error. I will be commenting publicly wherever and whenever I can as well as boycotting your Beautiful Fabric. This is a shameful Reproduction. For Moda to even enter into this with you is also shameful. They also will be boycotted.

Sincerely,MaryDenise Roeller

I told her I'd be glad to post the note. Not everybody seems to understand the point of Civil War Reunion or reproduction fabric.
If you care to comment, do please remember we try to keep a civil discourse going here.

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The email address for this blog is MaterialCult@gmail.com

DOG-GONE GOOD BOOKS

I've published a lot of books on quilt history and quilt patterns over the years. Below are some links to buy them, mostly eBooks or Print-on-Demand. But first click on the dog to go to my Etsy store to see if I have any printed copies I can autograph and send you.

VISIT MY ETSY STORE

Click to see books and quilts for sale. The books are all print editions from early print runs.

E-Book version of Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns.

Click on the book cover to buy a downloadable version.

Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns

The bound volume of this index to 4,000 designs with names is Out of Print. Buy an E-Book version above or buy the digital version BlockBase directly below which will print any pattern any size.

BlockBase

This computer program features over 4,300 patterns. Use it for pattern ideas, pattern I.D. and pattern drafting. Program is for PC's. Click on the box.

Making History: Quilts & Fabric From 1890-1970

A guide to making reproduction quilts, choosing reproduction prints and dating fabrics. Click on the cover to buy it from C&T Publishing.

Borderland in Butternut & Blue

Sampler Quilt to Recall the Civil War Along the Kansas/Missouri Border. A BOM with 14" traditional blocks and lots of history. Click for more:

CLUES IN THE CALICO eBook

Get this classic as an eBook. Easy to find index with a digital search.

America's Printed Fabrics: 1770-1890

How to date antique fabrics and add to your stash of reproduction prints with projects for reproduction quilts. C&T sells new Print-on-Demand editions. Click on the bookcover.

Encyclopedia of Applique

The Encyclopedia of Applique second edition. Click on the bookcover for more information about an eBook or a Print-On-Demand version. Or buy from my stock at my Etsy store above.

Facts and Fabrications

Twenty traditional blocks to "Unravel the History of Quilts and Slavery." Click on the cover to buy an on-demand print edition.

CIVIL WAR SAMPLER: 50 Quilt Blocks

The book based on my Civil War Quilts blog is still in print. Click on the cover to buy a copy from C&T Publishing.

Quilts From the Civil War

Information on the role of quilts in the Civil War. Click on the cover to read more and order a digital version of this out-of-print classic. I have paper copies in my Etsy store above.

Civil War Women

More about quilts and how women used them during the War for fundraising, patriotism and practical bedding. Click on the cover to see more about an e-Book or Print-On-Demand book.

EMPORIA ROSE

Challenging Applique from the heart of quilt country. Click to see more at C&T Publishing.

THE GARDEN QUILT: Interpreting a Masterpiece

More masterpiece applique from Ilyse Moore and me. Click on the cover to read more.

Visit My Spoonflower Shop

I have a few designs available at Spoonflower.com. You can buy yardage of postcard backs, quilt labels (like the one in the photo) and political prints in my Material Culture shop. Click on the label.

BOOK OF THE SAINTS EBOOK

You can buy my Book of the Saints For Quilters as an EBook for IPads for $3.99. Click on the picture to find ordering information for my 30-page collection of photocollages.

Lately Arrived EBook for IPads

A few years ago I did a Blurb book to accompany my Moda repro collection Lately Arrived From London. You can buy this little book with ideas and information on early quilts for $3.99 for your IPad. Click to see

Borderland in Butternut and Blue

A Block of the Month featuring patterns and stories recalling the Civil War in the west. Click on the cover to see more.

Prairie Flower: A Year on the Plains

Block of the month: Original applique patterns recalling the landscape of the westward migration.

Flora Botanica Museum Catalog

Exhibit at the Spencer Museum of Art featuring their spectacular collection. Click to read more.